ch was so monstrous that even
the least of a thousand had been of force sufficient to have shivered our
ship and barques into small portions, if God (who in all necessities hath
care upon the infirmity of man) had not provided for this our extremity a
sufficient remedy, through the light of the night, whereby we might well
discern to flee from such imminent dangers, which we avoided within
fourteen bourdes in one watch, the space of four hours. If we had not
incurred this danger amongst these monstrous islands of ice, we should
have lost our general and master, and the most of our best sailors, which
were on the shore destitute of victuals; but by the valour of our master
gunner, Master Jackman and Andrew Dier, the master's mates, men expert
both in navigation and other good qualities, we were all content to incur
the dangers afore rehearsed, before we would, with our own safety, run
into the seas, to the destruction of our said general and his company.

The day following, being the 19th of July, our captain returned to the
ship with good news of great riches, which showed itself in the bowels of
those barren mountains, wherewith we were all satisfied. A sudden
mutation. The one part of us being almost swallowed up the night before,
with cruel Neptune's force, and the rest on shore, taking thought for
their greedy paunches how to find the way to Newfoundland; at one moment
we were racked with joy, forgetting both where we were and what we had
suffered. Behold the glory of man: to-night contemning riches, and
rather looking for death than otherwise, and to-morrow devising how to
satisfy his greedy appetite with gold.

Within four days after we had been at the entrance of the straits, the
north-west and west winds dispersed the ice into the sea, and made us a
large entrance into the Straits, that without impediment, on the 19th
July, we entered them; and the 20th thereof our general and master, with
great diligence, sought out and sounded the west shore, and found out a
fair harbour for the ship and barques to ride in, and named it after our
master's mate, Jackman's Sound, and brought the ship, barques, and all
their company to safe anchor, except one man which died by God's
visitation.

At our first arrival, after the ship rode at anchor, general, with such
company as could well be spared from the ships, in marching order entered
the land, having special care by exhortations that at our entrance
thereinto we should